A social enterprise specialising in flexible finance has boosted the regional economy by £86m, through investment of £21.5m in small and medium businesses.

The Business Enterprise Fund (BEF), with offices in Yorkshire, the Humber, Sunderland, and Manchester, has released its April 2023 – March 2024 social impact report.

The report shows the enterprise helped launch 599 new UK businesses, completed 976 client deals and created or safeguarded 4,470 jobs across the country.

In late 2023, BEF received a £1m loan from the Isenberg Charitable Foundation to further support businesses in the north east.

By March 2024, it had secured backing from Lloyds in conjunction with Better Society Capital to further aid entrepreneurs.

Stephen Waud, chief executive at BEF, said: "We started in Bradford 20 years ago and we’re now working with the lowest 35% most deprived communities across the North of England.

"The proof is, if we support SMEs and micro-businesses in these areas, we’ll see true social and economic transformation."

BEF is a delivery partner for the government’s Start Up Loans Programme and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II’s Smaller Loans Fund via the British Business Bank.

The full social impact report for 2023 – 2024 is available at www.befund.org/our-impact.